Best airport restaurants around the world

(CNN) — From boxed sandwiches and salads in plastic tubs to fine dining.

The world's gastronomic masters are now using airports for their new restaurant openings.

Heston Blumenthal is the latest big name chef to open an air hub establishment.

The Perfectionist's Café will open at London Heathrow Airport's Terminal 2 on June 4.

While Blumenthal is best known for molecular gastronomy, his new diner with a wood-fired oven makes it the first British airport kitchen with an open flame.

Fire safety and security are just two major hurdles for the potential airport restaurateur.

Gas can't be used in the kitchens in most airports, food suppliers have to go through security clearance and perhaps most daunting of all, customers sometimes have as little 15 minutes to spend on the meal.

Blumenthal isn't the first culinary superstar to take on the challenge.

Gordon Ramsay opened Plane Food at Heathrow's Terminal 5 in 2008, Spain's Carles Gaig has a modern Catalan joint at Barcelona-El Prat and in North America, Los Angeles International and Toronto Pearson International are just two restaurants that have attracted restaurants from local celebrity cooks.

Heston Blumenthal's airport restaurant is due to open soon at London's Heathrow.

Courtesy Heathrow Airport

More people, more stomachs

Air travel has roughly doubled since 2003, with the International Civil Aviation Authority reporting that airlines served 3.1 billion passengers in 2013 compared with 1.6 billion a decade ago.

Airports are an integral part of that experience now, moving away from being mere gateways.

"It's what the airport environment does to you," says Heathrow Airport's head of food and beverage Ben Crowley.

"Eighty percent of our flights are long haul, which means the bulk of the passengers are on a big trip and therefore in the mood for an indulgence."

Advances in kitchen technology mean the no-gas policy is not the obstacle it once was.

"Electric heat is far better than what it used to be 10 years ago," says Sophie Michell, executive chef of London's Pont St restaurant and one of the four British celebrity chefs who have collaborated to open The Gorgeous Kitchen, an upmarket restaurant at Heathrow's Terminal 2.

"You just have to think about different ways to add flavor and cook quickly. For example, you can get good caramelization with a heavy-bottomed saucepan on induction hobs, which now have quick reactions and reach high temperatures."

A greater range of food suppliers are now authorized by airports, too.

"We're able to use ingredients from artisanal suppliers -- previously only the big suppliers were able to get through," Michell says.

They also tend to serve smaller parties than city restaurants and diners typically spend less.

"Though individual table checks are lower than on the high street, an airport restaurant gets much more exposure, with millions of people passing by every year," says Sebastian Rotteveel, creator of The Gorgeous Kitchen concept and senior director of marketing at hospitality company HMSHost International.

At Munich Airport, voted the world's best airport for dining in the 2013 Skytrax Awards, travelers can find Europe's only airport brewery, Airbräu.

Airbräu is a success because, like Hung's Delicacies in Hong Kong International Airport (voted second in the Skytrax awards), it's an authentic piece of its home culture, giving travelers a unique sense of place in the airport land-between-lands.

"A Bavarian restaurant serving local beer from its own brewery differentiates Munich Airport from other European airports," says Gerhard Halamoda, head of Munich Airport's hospitality operator Allresto.

More customers to come by June 2014.

Courtesy The Gorgeous Kitchen

"Twenty years ago, customers would use an airport once or twice a year, and restaurateurs could get away with an expensive, mediocre experience.

"Now, people fly frequently and if they have a good time at our airport, next time they're more likely to transfer through Munich rather than, say, Amsterdam or Frankfurt."

The hook: Opened by TV chef and restaurateur Cat Cora, whose empire includes branches at Salt Lake City and Houston Airports.

The cuisine: Innovative Californian cuisine using organic, seasonal ingredients, with small plates such as salt roasted beets, lobster mac and cheese or a seafood slider trio of oyster, shrimp and crab cake.

A raw bar dishes up oysters, while the cocktail menu gets creative with chili-infused tequila and antioxidant-crammed juices.

The hook: An offshoot of the Michelin-starred Hung's Delicacies in North Point, a tiny shop that specializes in marinated meats.

The cuisine: Chiu Chow food with a focus on braised meat in a particular style called "lou seoi," in which a complex master stock is used to marinate goose meat, tofu and other less usual parts, such as duck's tongue and pig's intestine in aspic.

The stir-fried egg noodles are named after Hong Kong food critic and TV personality Chua Lam, who was apparently one of the restaurant's earliest fans.

Dishes run from around $6.50 for small plates to $20 for the star attraction -- slices of marinated goose.

The hook: A second branch of the sandwich bar by Michael Voltaggio, "Top Chef" winner, Food & Wine's Best New Chef and the chef/owner of the fine dining ink on Melrose Avenue.

The cuisine: On "Top Chef," Voltaggio was known for inventive plating and a love of liquid nitrogen, but ink sack is a sandwich bar classic.

Tiny crusty baguettes are stuffed to the brim with fillings like cold fried chicken, Spanish cured meats or a Viet-style banh mi with pork, from about $7 -- not bad for a pre-boarding snack.

It's open 9:30 a.m.-2 a.m.

ink.sack (website is for the city branch), Great Hall, Tom Bradley International Terminal, 380 World Way, Los Angeles Airport; +1 (310) 258-9587

Perfectionists' Cafe (Heathrow Airport, London)

Opens June 2014

The hook: The king of inventive cooking, Heston Blumenthal applies his science to making British classics quick.

Cuisine: English diner food with a twist and some serious physics -- imagine a burger designed with an oral physiologist to determine the optimal bun size and texture.

Fans of Blumenthal's multi-sensory approach to cooking can sit at the bar where aromas will enhance the dining experience.

Prices for main dishes from £11 ($18).

Perfectionists' Cafe, Terminal 2 departures, Heathrow Airport, London

Porta Gaig (Barcelona-El Prat Airport)

The hook: Opened by one of Barcelona's most celebrated chefs, Carles Gaig, who runs the city's Michelin-starred Gaig.

The cuisine: Modern Catalan food, such as slow-braised beef cheeks or poached eggs over potatoes, enjoyed in peaceful, airy surrounds with plate-glass windows through which diners can watch aircraft land and take off.

Travelers in a rush can have quick tapas such as Iberico ham and pa amb tomaquet, a Catalan classic of bread rubbed with tomato.

The hook: To be launched by Canadian celebrity chef and cookbook author Roger Mooking, who also hosts cooking shows "Heat Seekers" and "Man Fire Food."

The cuisine: Locally sourced North American comfort food with the eponymous "twist" -- scones with lavender honey and peameal bacon and roast Cornish hen made with Moroccan spice rub, charred lemon and served with arugula.